Swiss Guards

The Swiss Guards are Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. From 1490 to 1817, the "Hundred Swiss" served at the French court, and the guards would later be transformed into an elite regiment. In 1792, the Swiss Guards were slaughtered during the insurrection of 10 August, when they fought to the death against 20,000 French National Guard volunteers and angry mobs while defending King Louis XVI of France at the Tuileries Palace. Several more of them would be murdered during the September Massacres of September 1792. Since 1506, the Pontifical Swiss Guard has served the Pope as his bodyguard unit.